As expected, the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the New York State housing market in April as new listings and pending sales both fell over 65%, according to the housing report from the New York State Association of Realtors.
With guidance in place not allowing for in-person showings across the Empire State, new listings fell 68.4% in April year-over-year. Pending sales fell 66.6% from April 2019. Closed sales also fell 29.3% to 6,626 sales from the prior year.
Median sales prices slipped slightly as well in April, falling 2.6% to $262,000. This is the first drop in the median sales price in year-over-year comparisons since January 2016, ending a streak of 50 consecutive months of escalating median sales prices.
What remained positive for home buyers were interest rates. The rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage in April fell to 3.31%, according to Freddie Mac. This is the lowest monthly average commitment rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage since Freddie Mac began tracking in 1971.
The months’ supply of inventory dropped 10.3% in April, from 5.8 months to 5.2.
